Scorched Strife
by rapono
Summary: When three sparklings are given to the Autobots by a mysterious carrier, they grow up to be great fighters. But as they hunger to know their past, there was a reason their carrier never mentioned their father. Because sometimes, knowing the truth can destroy your life as you know it, and your ideals.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Optimus Prime gathered his team of Autobots together. Ratchet had discovered a small but urgent distress signal, and it had appeared to be neither Autobot nor Decepticon. They has requested that they come as quickly as possible, and to bring medical care. Optimus had decided to send Arcee and Ratchet to help the stranger. He informed Arcee to be ready for a fight, but not to threaten the distressed stranger.

Ratchet put in the coordinates, which were somewhere in Canada, and activated the space bridge. With a medical kit in one hand, Ratchet walked into the bridge, followed by Arcee.

When they went through, they arrived in a pine forest. Heavy breathing could be heard nearby.

Going through a couple of trees, the pair found the distressed stranger. It was a red femme, legs and lower half covered in energon. In her arms, she was holding three sparklings, two of which their optics were barely glowing. She looked up at the pair with wide, fear-filled, bright blue optics. She stood up slowly, then offered the sparklings to them. Lubricant was flowing rapidly from her optics.

"I am glad that you Autobots found me instead of the 'cons." She stepped over to Ratchet, still offering the sparklings to them.

"I am incappable of taking care of my sparklings. They are dying because I don't know what to do. Could you possibly take care of them?"

Ratchet looked down at the poor sparklings. The stronger-looking one cried out. Ratchet sighed.

"If you seriously believe you cannot take care of them yourself, we can take them. But I would recommend come with us."

"I'm sorry, but I can't come with you. But it would make me happy to know that my little sparklings will grow up to help defend this planet from destruction." A small smile crept up the red femme's faceplate.

The femme was about to leave, when she suddenly stopped and turned around.

She pointed at the sickly mech. "This is Stormrust." She then motioned to the weak femme. "This is Skyshard." She eventually pointed towards the final healthy mech. "And this Scorchstrike. I entrust their lives to you."

The mysterious femme took a step back, shed another drop of lubricant, then ran off into the forest. Arcee was about to chase after her, but Ratchet stopped the two-wheeler just in time.

"Arcee, we should let her be. It's already hard enough for a carrier to give away her sparklings. Besides, I don't think she wants to cause any trouble."

Twin cries of pain suprised Ratchet, and he realized that the two weak sparklings were fading fast.

{Optimus,} he commed the Autobot leader, {Open a bridge. We have some dying sparklings here!}


	2. Chapter 1

**Klik: about a second**

**Breem: about a minute**

**Joor: about a hour**

**Cycle: about a day**

**Solar Cycle: about a week**

* * *

Chapter 1

Scorchstrike paced around in anticipation. He was itching to go out of the base, but he had to wait until a new mission was received.

The impaitcent silver and red mech had a familiar looking structure. His wings twitched every now and then, and his tires would spun a little, since he just wanted desperately to go for a drive or flight. He stopped pacing and glared at the orange and white medic with bright blue optics.

"Ratch, what's taking so long?"

"We have yet to find a another energon mine or some decepticon activity. Everyone else who has gone are handing themselves fine."

"But why can't I just go out for a bit?"

"Because we might need you if a problem arises."

"IF." Scorchstrike stomped way angrily, muttering something about how Ratchet was just being a stupid old glitch. Ratchet himself later muttered something to himself about impatient young mechs.

After a few breems, Ratchet had a simple task for Scorchstrike.

Jack was done his shift at KO Burger, and needed to be driven to base. Scorchstrike was disappointed with his task, but was glad that he would be able to use one of his alt modes. So he set out immediately. Jack was somewhat surprised when he saw a fancy sportscar pull up into the KO Burger parking lot. The driver-less vehicle opened up his door for the teen, the door inself going up instead of to the side. Jack hesitantly hoped in.

"So, Scorch, how come you came this time?"

"Everyone else but me and Ratchet were on missions. Besides, I could wait to feel the wind on either of my alt modes."

Jack buckled himself in as Scorchstrike shut his door and drove out of the parking lot. As he drove trough the town, people stared at the sports car.

"Speaking of your alt modes, why choose one that was super fancy looking with spoilers and such?"

"First of all, I need the extra stuff to help support my other alt mode. And second, I want to go fast."

After a moment of silence, Scorchstrike added another point to his list. "Third, I wanted to look fabulous."

Jack chuckled.

"Well, there's no doubt about that!"

Scorchstrike smiled mentally. Just as they exited the town, something didn't feel right to Scorchstrike. He felt like someone's optics were on him.

"Hey Jack."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have the feeling we're being watched."

Jack blinked. He looked around outside, and in seeing no one around them, shrugged Scorchstrike's question off.

"I don't think so."

The sound of transformation suddenly came from above, as eradicons landed around them. Scorchstrike transformed into his robot mode, making sure that Jack was safe within his chassis. He transformed his hand into his signature flamethrower, and pointed it a the 'cons threateningly.

"If any of you move, I'll turn you into deceptitoast!"

One of the eradicons foolishly attempted to shoot him, and a hole was burned through his chassis. The others took a step back in fear.

"Too scared to take me on, eh?"

Scorchstrike double-checked to see if Jack was still ok, then focused back on the 'cons. He heated up his flamethrower in anticipation.

"I'd like to offer a second opinion."

A strong charge jolted him from behind. He fell backwards and passed out of the shock. He saw a crimson mech smirk at him just as his optics offlined.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

{Skyshard, what is your status?}

The femme, who was using a special lazer to to cut out energon, perked her head up and smled a bit.

{Good sir. We found a small area of the stripped mine that the decepticons missed. We're collecting the energon now.}

{I am glad to hear that. Report back if anything happens.}

{Okay Optimus. Will do.}

The comm-link ended.

Skyshard looked at the energon crystal with a feeling of satisfaction. Although she was a seeker, the small femme didn't feel too bothered by being underground. Perhaps it was because she spent the majority of her life in a base that almost appeared to be underground from the inside. She patted off some of the dirt on her pale pink, sky-blue, and white frame, the continued to work on her crystal. Her bright red optics reflected off the crystal.

After about a joor of two, her, Arcee, and Bulkhead had gathered quite a large amount of energon crystal. The three of them gathered the blue crystals up, and proceeded to carry them out.

When she entered the base through the ground bridge witha part of her load, she noticed Ratchet had a troubled look on his face.

"Hey Ratchet, what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you in a moment, just finish bringing in the energon, ok?"

"Ok!"

After the rest of the energon had safley been taken into the base, Ratchet walked up slowly to the femme. She had a bad feeling.

"Skyshard, I sent your brother, Scorchstrike, out to pick up Jack from his job."

She didn't see how anything bad could come from that.

"That was about two joors ago. I haven't heard from him since."

* * *

_Sorry this chapter is so short, just wanted to introduce the second character._


	4. Chapter 3

_Most words I've put into a chapter, EVER. Yays!_

* * *

Chapter 3

Optimus, Bumblebee, and Stormrust were on their way to an energon mine they had recently discovered. The three of them drove swiftly along a dirt path in the middle of a forest. Stormrust was directly behind Optimus, trying to stay ahead of Bumblebee at all times. He wanted to prove that even though he was much younger than 'Bee, has was just as valuable or more than him. He was so determined, he nearly rear-ended Optimus. He carefully back away a bit, making sure the prime didn't notice his close shave.

When they arrived at the mine, the trio transformed, and took the nearby trees as cover. Stormrust wiped some mud off of his somewhat bulky blue and orange frame, and smirked arrogantly at Bumblebee. The scout didn't notice, and continued to wait for their leader's commanders. Stormrust's violet optics glared in frustration, then he too, proceeded to just hide and wait.

The autobot trio peered into the mine. No activity came from it, so Optimus ordered them to continue onward, cautiously. The three 'bots entered the cave, weapons ready. Stormrust saw something move in the corner of his eye, but found only a dumbfounded bat, minding its own business. He facepalmed himself.

The three of them entered a large open area of the cave, littered with energon crystals randomly poking out of the ground and walls. Seeing no obvious threat, they retracted their weapons and let their guard down.

As they began to prepare for mining, a sudden rush of pedfalls and whirl of weapons told them they were not alone.

Vehicons poured out of the multiple entrances, blasters ready to fire. The Autobot trio stood in the middle, waiting for them to fire.

"Well, it looks like the Autobots fell for our simple trap."

The vehicons parted to reveal a very smug-looking Breakdown. Stormrust glared at him and growled.

"No hand the tri..." Breakdown cut himself off as he stared at the growling Stormrust. A look of frustration came to his orange face.

"This isn't him! Atta-" a large electrical bolt struck Breakdown right in the middle of chassis, preventing him from finishing the command. He looked up to see a large smoking cannon where Stormrust's servo previously had been. It was still pointed at the fallen mech.

The 'bots took this moment to start hacking away at the vehicons. Optimus was slicing away with his sword and Bumblebee was landing punches and kicks. Stormrust transformed his other servo into an ax, then joined the energon-splattered fray.

He launched himself at Breakdown, cutting deeply into the 'con's chassis. Breakdown shoved the somewhat smaller mech off of him, then transformed his own servo into a hammer, and counterattacked. The two weapons clashed, and Stormrust was shoved back a bit.

He prepared to launch another, much stronger bolt from his electro cannon. Breakdown barely dodged the strike, leaving the bolt to hit a vehicon, frying its circuits to a crisp. Breakdown looked at the smoking carcass in horror.

Breakdown suddenly recieved a comm-link, and pulled away from the battle. Stormrust followed him, deciding to hear what he would say before off-lining him.

"Knockout, it wasn't him!"

...

"Wait, so you found the triple-changer?"

_Did he mean Scorchstrike?_

"Alright Doc, just gotta pull the troops out of this fight."

Stormrust went in for the strike. Instead, he received a hammer to the face.

"Sorry kid, looks like we found your brother. You're of no need to us anymore." He struck him hard in the chassis, leaving Stormrust in a sudden stasis lock. He metal cracked a bit where he was hit.

Breakdown left him there and continued to gather the troops.

* * *

Ratchet was not as surprised as he could have been when he saw Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Stormrust injured. He had suspected the large mine was a trap, and had warned them so. He rushed towards him, helping the half-online Stormrust onto a berth. Shyshard rushed to her big brother immediately, attempting to repair his wounds.

"How are you brother? Have you heard from Scorchstrike lately? He's been gone for the last three joors."

Stormrust optics jolted fully online. He looked over at his sister, wide opticed.

"The decepticons have him, and it had something to do with his triple changing."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Knockout looked over the stasis-locked autobot mech strapped to his medical berth curiously. When he admired the young mech's faceplate, he swore he looked like someone he knew. Knockout pondered on this for awhile, but just couldn't recall the faceplate. He eventually shrugged it off, and readied his saw.

The young mech was apparently a triple-changer, and one could tell by looking at his robot mode. Knockout had been assigned to studying him and finding out how he triple-changed. Knockout activated his saw, and carefully cut into the silver and red mech's chassis.

As he opened him up, he noticed something odd. The mech's spark chamber looked a bit off to him. Not wanting to risk terminating the project for the sake of curiosity, he grabbed a nearby scanner, and scanned the spark chamber. Looking at the results, Knockout retched.

There was something more than the spark in there. There appeared to be a human body curled up inside, wrapped around the mech's very spark. Knockout was disgusted.

The young mech suddenly jolted online, making Knockout jump away in surprise. His chassis closed up, and he attempted to get up, then suddenly realized he was strapped down.

"Well, look who's finally woken up."

The mech stared at the medic, with a look of worry and disbelief on his faceplate. He struggled against his restraints once again, although it was still futile.

"And what would your designation be, Autobot?"

Silence.

"Scorchstrike. Why am I here?

" "Ah yes. You see, Scorchstrike, Lord Megatron needs to know about how you triple-change."

"And why would you need that information?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Military purposes."

Scorchstrike didn't respond. Instead, he glared harshly at the medic before him.

"So, the silent treatment, huh? Don't worry, I'll make you squeal out all of your secrets." Knockout revved up his saw. "Like why is there a human body inside your spark chamber?"

"What!?"

"Apparently, there appears to be a human body residing inside your spark chamber. I knew you Autobots absolutely love humans, but putting the organics inside you with your spark is just disgusting! Eugh!"

Scorchstrike looked up at the decepticon medic, with a disturbed and confused look on his face."

"So you don't know how it happened either, hmm? Why don't we just open it up to find out!"

"I-i-i'd prefer not, but th-thanks for the suggestion!" Scorchstrike stuttered in a panic.

Knockout sighed in slight disappointment, but continued to re-open up the young mech's chassis. Scorchstrike tried hard to close it up again, but Knockout stopped him this time. He placed his saw right beside his transformation-cog, and grinned maniacally. Scorchstrike felt a small shudder within him.

"Now let's see what's so special about you."

Jack Darby held his breath.

* * *

_P.S. - in case you're confused, the h__uman body within Scorchy isn't Jack, who is safe elsewhere in Scorchy's chassis. But it is important to Scorchy and his sibling's past._


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Knockout revved up his saw in anticipation, smiling wickedly.

"Now let's see what makes you so special!"

Scorchstrike braced himself, as the decepticon medic lowered his saw towards his t-cog. He whimpered, fearing that he would never be able to transform again.

Just as the saw was about to start splitting wires, Knockout stopped. The young autobot looked up at him. The medic appeared to be receiving a comm-link.

"What is it now Starscream?" By the tone of Knockout's voice, he was very annoyed. The medic rolled his optics.

"Look Starscream, I'm trying to open up an autobot prisoner for Lord Megatron!"

...

"All right, fine. I'll be there in a moment, _Commander_."

As the comm ended, Knockout sighed, then looked over to Scorchstrike.

"Now stay here, like a good little autobot."

Knockout transformed his saw back into his servo, then strutted away quickly. The medical bay's doors closed behind the decepticon medic, leaving the captured autobot in silence.

Scorchstrike let out let out a large exhaust of relief. He tried to get up from the berth, but ended up with no success.

"All right Jack, it's safe for now."

With a few rustles and creaks, the teenage boy crawled out from Scorchstrike's chassis. He looked up at the young autobot, with a worried look on his face.

"Now what, Scorch?"

"Well, if you can somehow get me off this berth, I can bust us out of here."

Scorchstrike pondered for a moment, then looked at his surroundings.

"Maybe you can use that lazer over there."

Jack looked over at the lazer, which was on a nearby table. Running for it, he jumped onto the table, then scrambled over the the lazer. It was big for a human, but just small and light enough for Jack to carry it. He hopped back onto the berth.

He ran over to one of Scorchstrike's servos, then carefully aimed the lazer. Jack turned the lazer on, and it instantly broke the restraint. He quickly shut it off, before he accidentally began to start cutting off Scorchstrike's digits. The young mech took the tool from Jack, then quickly zapped the remaining restraints.

Carefully taking the human teen in his servo, Scorchstrike got up and looked around the medical bay. He put his head to its door, listening for activity. Hearing nothing, he placed Jack back inside his chassis, then opened the doors and exited the bay. He checked the halls both ways, before going the direction he thought would lead to an exit.

Eventually, the young mech got lost. The nemesis was bigger than he thought. As he swiftly turned 'round another corner, he suddenly ran into something. Scorchstrike stumbled to the floor. He looked up at the offending obstruction, then froze in fear.

"And what are you doing up and about, Autobot?"

The leader of the decepticons towered before him. Scorchstrike scrambled backwards, then stumbled to his pedes.

"Apparently, your medic was busy with Stiletto-heeled Commander." he said mockingly to the large decepticon lord.

Megatron growled angrily, then attempted to grab the cocky autobot. Scorchstrike swiftly dodged, and took a step back. He readied his flamethrowers, then pointed them at Megatron's faceplate.

"Eat my flames Megs!"

He blasted the decepticon lord with a double torrent of fire. Not waiting to see his results, he jumped into the air and transformed into a fiery-red-lined silver fighter jet, and sped down the halls.

Eventually, he found the exit. As he flew for his freedom, he heard the decepticon lord's shouts of rage. He knew he was out-gunned, but he assured himself he was faster than the larger mech. He blasted his thrusters at full-capacity, then headed for the earth below.

"You okay Jack?"

"A bit nervous and shaken, but otherwise fine."

"Great! Just be prepared, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!"


	7. Chapter 6

_I feel like this story's been launched into action too early. Oh well. It is somewhat unscripted._

_PS - this story happens in the same universe as **Curing the Dead** only this starts much earlier and before CtD's events happened._

* * *

Chapter 6

"What are we going to do!?" the pale pink seeker almost screeched the words. Stormrust leaned back on the berth, and looked to the ground.

"I can't think of anything we can do to help him, Skyshard."

"We can hope for the best though! I think he'll make it out alive! At least he should, shouldn't he?"

"Let's hope so."

As Ratchet was tending to Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, he overheard the siblings' conversation. He rushed over to them, with Optimus following the medic slowly. A panicked look was all over the docbot's face.

"Did you say Scorchstrike was _kidnapped_?"

The siblings nodded nervously.

"Then this is worse than we all thought," Ratchet ran over to the cybertronian-styled computer, and immediately began searching for Scorchstrike's life signal.

"He has Jack with him."

* * *

"Drat!"

"What is it Scorchstrike?" Jack gripped his seat tightly as Scorchstrike did another aerial maneuver.

"They disabled my comm-link!"

"You mean you can't contact the base?"

"Nope! And I have no idea where the frag we are!" The triple-changer's voice was dripping with sarcasm and hysteria.

Jack looked behind them. "And unfortunately, Megatron is still on our trail."

"Why won't that slagging bucket-head leave us alone!" Scorchstrike dived beneath the clouds, revealing a large dark pine forest below.

"Hopefully, this forest means that we're somewhere somewhat near the base," he swerved tot the side, avoiding Megatron's blast. "At least we better be in the right continent!"

Scorchstrike really hoped he was right. He knew he was definitely fast enough to stay ahead of the mighty decepticon leader, but he did not yet have the endurance to stay at such a speed for a prolonged amount of time. He knew if he didn't get to safety soon, he would crash from overheating and exhaustion, making him easy prey for Megatron. Plus, he had Jack in tow. He didn't want to be responsible for his demise.

Scorchstrike barely dodged Megatron's next shot, as he had been distraced scanning the ground below. He tried his comm-link once again, but only fizzle came thorugh. He felt his engines beginning to overheat.

Reluctantly, Scorchstrike prepared for a landing, not wanting to risk causing any severe internal damage. But as he began lowering himself, Megatron got closer. Jack looked behind them, only too see the cybertronian jet up close and personal, and preparing another blast.

Just as Megatron was about to fire, a violent bolt of lightning struck the decepticon lord. The flash was blinding and the thunder was deafening, forcing Jack to cover his eyes and ears, and Scorchstrike to almost swerve out of control. The energy surge from the bolt caused the dark lord's systems to malfunction, making Megatron start heading for a crash landing.

Scorchstrike took this opportunity, and quickly landed in a nearby clearing. He transformed into his robot mode, then checked to see if Jack was okay. Seeing as the teenage male was fine, he began to vent in an attempt to cool down his systems.

It did not take long for Megatron to recover though. Soon, the dark lord began charging through the evergreen forest, smashing through trees at full-speed towards the young mech.

Scorchstrike would've fully-charged his flamethrowers and scorched the 'con until his circuits were fried, but he didn't want to risk making his already overheated systems worse. Instead, he readied his missiles, and fired them at the approaching and enraged decepticon.

Unfortunately, the missiles seemed to have no effect on the angry warlord, so he turned heel and ran for it. As he dashed through the clearing, he glanced behind him, to see Megatron directly behind him. He let out a screech of terror.

But just as the decepticon warlord was upon him, blast from behind struck the warlord directly in his neck cables. Megatron stumbled, allowing Scorchstrike to escape his reach. Megatron roared in frustation, then faced the direction of the sharp-shooter.

As another well-aimed blast struck Megatron in the chassis, Scorchstrike's savior emerged from the evergreen shadows. Scorchstrike himself, who had hidden behind a large boulder, looked on in curiosity.

A deep-crimson femme stepped into the sunlight, wielding a sniper blaster. Her violet-rimmed blue optics glared at the decepticon lord, as she put away her blaster. A mouthplate covered her glossa, making it somewhat difficult to read her emotions. Spikes ran down her helm and back, as well as on her arms and legs. But the feature that stood out the most was a reptilian-like tail protruding from her rear, which flicked from side-to-side in anticipation.

Overall, she looked quite tough and menacing.

The mysterious stranger raised her arm, and pressed two sharp digits to the side of her helm. She said something into her comm, which was too quiet for the two mechs to hear.

* * *

The computer beeped, startling Ratchet, and informed him it had detected a signal. It was a comm-link from an unknown caller. Hoping it had something to do with Scorchstrike, Ratchet accepted it immediately.

"Allos," a female voice with a European accent greeted the autobot medic. "I believe I've found your missing mech."

Ratchet's spark skipped a beat, and the remaining autobots looked at the computer, all full of shock and with wide optics. Ratchet began tracing the signal immediately.

"Let's hope this isn't a trap."

* * *

_Should I change this fanfic's title? I feel like I should since the plot has changed from when I originally started this fanfic._


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The dark crimson femme removed her digits from her helm. She glared at Megatron, who was preparing his fusion cannon. He shot angrily at the femme, but she dodged his blasts with relative ease. Realizing that ranged fingting wasn't going to cut it, he transformed his blade out, and went in for close combat.

As Megatron charged forward, the femme did so as well. As she dashed towards the much larger mech, she unshealthed a fairly big sword from her backside. As the dark lord swung his blade at her, she quickly blocked it with her own.

Scorchstrike watched from afar as the two clashed swords. The femme was doing exceptionally well at countering Megatron's much stronger swings. Feeling safer, Scorchstrike open up his chassis and took Jack out, then placed him carefully on the ground. The human teen watched the battle with him, both unsure if they should make a run for it.

Megatron was surprised by the femme's performance. She was doing surprisingly well for her somewhat small size. Her unusual tail thrashed back and forth, the spikes running along it scratching his legs every now and then. Her blue and violet optics burned into his. She was a extremely well-trained fighter.

As the two traded blows, the femme began to get weary. Megatron could tell it had been a long time since her last fight, and she was slightly out of shape. Regardless, she remained silent juring the entire fight, except for a few grunts and huffs.

The femme, realizing she couldn't keep going like this forever, suddenly took a few quick steps back. She transformed the top of her arm into some sort of blaster, and began charging it. Soon, the decepticon lord was doused in flames, these ones much stronger than the autobot triple-changer had blasted at him. He quickly seized her wrists, preventing her from attacking him.

The femme glared at the decepticon lord with a burning rage. As Megatron was about to strike her down, she suddenly retracted her mouthplate, and spewed a large fireball from her glossa into his chassis. The decepticon lord was blasted backwards.

Megatron just lay there for a moment, dumbfounded by the attack. How was that even possible? Regardless of how, she was a huge threat, and needed to be eliminated immediately.

The femme gasped, steam rushing out of her glossa. The fire-breath attack seemed to have a negative effect on her, as she need a few kliks to cool down. After the steam subsided, she transformed her mouthplate back.

Megatron seized the oppotunity of her recovery, and struck her across the chassis, sending the red femme flying. Energon sprayed from her glossa and wound as she hit the ground hard. She stumbled to her feet, gripping her large, devastating wound. She grabbed her fallen sword, only to have it smacked from her servo. The decepticon lord towered over her. He forced her to her knees.

"You were foolish to think that you could defeat me, a gladiator who fought in the pits of Kaon. Now you shall meet your end, autobot."

As he readied his blade to decapitate her, the femme finally spoke to him, strong, long, and clear.

"Who ever said I was an autobot?"

Megatron hesitated. In his hesitation, the femme lept up and grabbed his arm, preventing him from finishing her.

Both Scorthstrike and Jack heard the statement, and gasped. They looked at each other, with an expression of surprise and shock.

"What!?"

As the femme tried to prevent her termination, Megatron stared at the spot where her faction symbol would be.

There was no autobot badge there, but instead, what the appeared to be the faint remains of a...

A groundbridge suddenly opened behind him.

The autobots had found their missing mech.

Knowing he would be outmatched, Megatron tossed the femme off of him, and transformed into his alt mode. He flew away as Optimus, Ratchet, and the two young autobots ran out the 'bridge. Seeing them, Scorchstrike carefully picked up Jack, then yelled to them.

The crimson femme kneeled on the energon stained grass, staring silently up at the sky, as she was left leaking and unnoticed.

* * *

"Scorchy, you're ok!" Skyshard leapt at her brother, embracing him in a hug. Stormrust joined them.

Ratchet rushed over to the young mech, anxious.

"Scorchstrike! What Happened? Are you ok? Where Jack?"

"Right here, Doc." Jack waved at Ratchet from Scorchstrike's servo.

"And were both fine!" Scorchstrike replied happily.

"Thank Primus."

As Ratchet checked over the young mech to make sure, Optimus walked over to the group.

"So how didja guys find me? They disabled my comm and everything."

"We recieved a message from an unknown cybertronian claiming that they knew of your location," Optimus stated. "Scorchstrike, do you know who this is?"

"Well there was this femme who stopped Megatron from recapturing me after I escaped. She fought hard, but Megatron would've won if you guys hadn't shown up." Scorchstrike looked towards the fallen femme, then pointed at her. "She's badly injured."

Ratchet looked towards where Scorchstrike pointed, then rushed to the crimson frame. She had gone into stasis-lock in her kneeling, sky-gazing position. Ratchet picked up the strange small femme, who was bigger than Arcee and Skyshard, but smaller than the other 'bots. He called base for a groundbridge, and soon one open infront of him.

As the autobots went through the bridge, Scorchstrike put his servo on ratchet's shoulder. The medic stopped looked at him.

"She also stated that she wasn't an Autobot."


	9. Chapter 8

_I finally re-did it. Chapter 8 is finally done._

_Also for those of you who read the original character 8 and got the big reveal shown early, pretend you didn't read that. I decided it was better to reveal the info later, it felt to soon to do it here. (So no spoiling for others!)_

[...]_ = Comm_

{...} _= Bumblebee speak_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The dark crimson femme groaned as her systems began to reboot.

Her optic onlined to a rocky and metal ceiling. Confused, she tried to get up, but was unable to. She looked down at her frame to find that she had been strapped to a berth. She looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings.

"This must be the Autobot base. Nice."

As she struggled to break free, she noticed that someone had repaired her.

Probably Ratchet.

She stopped her struggles and listened. She could pick up the faint sound of chatter in the distance.

"Hey! Is someone there?"

The chatter abruptly stopped, then the sound of pedefalls started to grow near.

Eventually, the autobots' medic, Ratchet, arrived at the room.

"So you've finally awaken."

The femme silently nodded in response.

Ratchet activated his comm.

[Optimus.]

[Yes, old friend?]

[The femme has awoken.]

* * *

The majority of the autobots had crowded the berth at the announcement of her arousal (minus the humans, Ratchet had insisted). They all seemed very curious about what the femme had to say.

The mysterious femme looked up at Optimus with a fire in her optics. Optimus returned it with a look of curiosity and suspicion.

"Fellow Cybertronian, what is your designation?"

It took about a breem for her to reply.

"Bloodracer."

Optimus took a few moments to proccess the name. He was quite sure he had heard it before.

"What is your allegiance?"

A slight wave of panic washed over her. Bloodracer's optics darted around the room before glaring into Prime's.

"Neutral."

Many bots began to doubt her response the moment she said it. It was too unusual for a neutral to be so strong and skilled in combat. No Neutral could ever go toe-to-toe with Megatron himself and survive like she did.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

Silence.

"What was your former allegiance?"

"I never was in one!"

Bloodracer's quick and sharp replies meant she was obviously hiding something.

"She's obviously lying, Optimus!" Stormrust spat out.

So Prime asked her again.

This time, she didn't respond.

Ratchet stared at her, then noticed something off.

"Optimus."

"Yes Ratchet?"

Ratchet went up to Bloodracer and studied her chassis. He was right.

"I believe we have our answer right here."

Optimus went in closer for a look.

Upon Bloodracer's chassis, there appeared to be the faint marks of what once was...

A Decepticon symbol.

Optimus looked up angrily into the crimson femme's optics.

"You lied to us."

The autobots glared at her angrily. Skyshard had to stop her brother from attacking Bloodracer.

"How dare you?" screeched Stormrust.

"It was because if you knew then you would never let me go! Yes, I was once a decepticon, but I really am a neutral now!"

"Then why did you save our comrade?"

"Why not? I had nothing better to do! I was in the right place at the right time! Plus, I wanted a chance for just me and Buckethead to fight alone. I guess I was unprepared though..."

Ratchet stared at Bloodracer's faceplate. Her optics seemed familiar, but that was all he could see since she had her mouthplate on.

"How can we be sure you are not a decepticon spy?"

"Because Ratchet..." her faceplate began to retract, "you know exactly why."

Ratchet stared at her unveiled faceplate, trying to remember where he had seen it before. Then it struck him.

As the medic looked at Bloodracer with a shocked expression, she gave him a sort of shushing gesture, wanted him to be quiet about the information he had just learned. The 'bots looked at Ratchet quizically.

"Nothing... just knew her before. We can trust her." Rachet reassured them.

He looked up at Optimus, receiving a nod and small smile.

"So we should probably get these off of you then."

Ratchet deactivated the cuffs on the berth. As soon as they were gone, Bloodracer jumped up and off the berth, and had her mouthplate active back on.

"Finally, I get to move! That position was giving me aches."

The other autobots stared at her somewhat awkwardly. Bloodracer smiled at them with her optics. She went over to greet them.

"Optimus, it's an honour, although I would have preferred us meeting under less tense and friendlier conditions."

* * *

Bloodracer continued to greet all the the autobots, surprisingly knowing all of their names. Eventually, they left the room, and Bloodracer went to greet the other two autobots who had stayed behind. Bumblebee and Scorchstrike stopped their conversation as Bloodracer strut into the main area.

"Hey Bee and Scorchy!" she ran over to them. "How are you two?"

The two young mechs looked at her quizzically, confused by their former prisoner's now cheery attitude, as she talked to them like they were good friends. They glanced at each other, exchanging the same surprised and puzzled look, then turned back to her.

{Uh... Hi?} Bumblebee beeped.

Bloodracer gave him sort of a blank stare. "Pardon?"

Bumblebee beeped angrily in response, as both him and Scorchstrike came to the conclusion that she really wasn't cybertronian. But before they could start throwing accusations, she adjusted something on her helm.

"Sorry, I haven't really met anyone else who talks like that. Mind saying that again, Bumblebee?"

{I said hi!}

"Oh. Yes, and hello to the two of you."

After hearing her response, both Bumblebee and Scorchstrike calmed down, knowing that their fear was a lie.

{So, what your name?}

"Bloodracer."

"Bloodracer? That seems like sort of a harsh name."

"It's because she **was** a decepticon," Ratchet informed them as he walked into the rather spacious room. "But I'm quite certain that she a neutral now."

"How come doc?" Scorchstrike implied.

"Uh... complicated reasons that would take too long to explain."

"Huh."

As Ratchet went to work on the large computer, Optimus quietly entered the room, listening to the conversation.

{So Bloodracer, why'd you save Scorchy?}

"Well, Megatron and Scorches just happened to pass by, so I took the opportunity. I felt sorry for Scorchstrike, and wanted and chance to fight toe-to-toe with Lord Buckethead."

Scorchstrike snickered at the nickname.

"Anyways, it had been a long time since my last real fight, so I guess that's why it didn't end so well. On that note, thanks for the fix Ratchet!"

"It was nothing. Besides, it was Scorchstrike that insisted that I patch you up."

"Well then, thanks Scorchy!"

Scorchstrike scratched the back of his neck cables, embarrassed. "Aw shucks, it was the least I could do for you after you saved me."

As the conversation went on, Arcee suddenly butt in.

"So, how do you know so much about us if you left the decepticons so long ago? You definitely shouldn't know the kids."

"Well, i still had hung on to quite a few comm frequencies after I left, so that's just one of ways that I found out about your new recruits. Also, being a neutral, I would sometimes find and watch your conflicts with the decepticons, and seeing them in the battlefield confirmed that the rumors were true. And I did snipe a few vehicons every now and then."

Satisfied with the answer, Arcee joined them.

"But about you Scorchstrike; how did the autobots find you? Or did you find them?"

"Well, they found me and my siblings, Stormrust and Skyshard. I'm the youngest while Stormy's the oldest. Apparently, our carrier gave us to the autobots, as she was unable to take good care of us, but took off once she left us in Ratchet's servos. I guess I'm glad that Ratchet and the autobots took us in and raised us, but I'd still like to meet my sire and carrier some day."

Bloodracer put a servo on the kid's shoulder, giving him a deep look of sadness and sympathy.

As the conversation continued on, it took a much more cheerful and happy tone, having all the cybertronians enjoy the social interaction, and more join in. It went on for quite a few hours, as both the Autobots and the former decepticon learned about and had a few laughs with each other.

Optimus gave a great big smile.

* * *

_Also if any of you are wondering about the parallel fic to this, "Curing the Dead", which takes place later in this storyline; i have yet to progress because I need to figure out Bloodracer and Knockout's interaction in this fic and such, because she is surprisingly necessary to that fic as well._

_So I most definitely haven't given up on it, i just need to progress up to a certain point in this fic before I can progress that one. That is all._


End file.
